Buying a new dryvan trailer pulling general freight. Need input.

I'm not real sure .. tier 1, I thought was the basic model.

Tier 2, more features, logistics post closer together, plus all that stuff that Midwest Trucker said his new Wabash had.

 

I run with a fleet of 550 trailers. Drop & Hook. Zero inflator problems. Some quite old.

As to quality by brand, I’ve akways thought it was Great Dane & Stoughton. Wabash a level down. (JB Hunt trailers).

 

I can't imagine having a spring ride lol. All of ours have inflaters, and they work great.

 

Tire inflation pays for itself within about a year from my experience. Never had any problems with it.

I forgot to mention in that other thread that I highly recommend skylights as well. It’s amazing how much light comes in to help see everything in the trailer. Never had any problems with leaks either if that’s a concern.

Can’t really go wrong with a wabash duraplate with duraplate skirts and surelock rear door handles. They hold the doors close and tight so it’s easier to see the dock when backing in.

I like to get mine with front and rear vents, steps up to the front vent. Swivel handles, paperwork holder on the front, tire carrier underneath. Airslide tandem, tire inflator system, and personally I get stainless rear doors as well.

Galvanized rear bumper and landing gear is a must. LED lights. Scuff plate in the nose is good to have so fork lifts don’t fork into the trailer while loading short skids. The plate trailer walls with etrack is the way to go also.

Air ride of course. I guess the latest meritor suspension doesn’t even require shocks! It’s built into the airbag.

That should pretty well do it.

 

you guys and your air ride.

Spring trailers are just as good unless you are hauling some special freight that needs air ride. Overall the maintenance is less, the ride quality is close to the same.

 

Spring ride is roughly 400lbs lighter than Air ride.

 

Agreed, I can break a spring and with a couple blocks of woods Im going home or to the shop. My 2017 wilson hopper is 400lbs lighter than air ride. I have spec. vans with roughly were 400lbs lighter too.

 

The auto inflation systems do require some maintenance, it’s not outrageous though. Just service the air dryer every once in a while. I’ve never had an issue with an air ride trailer. They’ve been the standard for so long that they’ve got it pretty well figured out. A Holland CBX40 with aero beam or a Hendrickson Ultraak (no shocks) are the best. If you don’t want air ride, check out the ULX40 from Holland it’s a composite spring suspension that comes pretty close to air ride. I think it’s pretty cool.
There are different floor systems available too that are composite hybrids by Havcor. I know Hyundai offers their stuff. I’m pretty keen on Hyundai. They’ve improved the quality a lot and offer just about everything you could ask for.

 

Curious, with spring ride hopper bottom. How are you able to accurately load at a farm withou going over weight ?
Just experience / best guess ? Amount the suspension compresses?

 

I pulled many Xtra trailers for years before I could afford to buy my own. Spring ride did great and never had any problems. The air ride is smoother though and when spec’ing a new unit I feel like why not?